Slow-Growth Advocate Will Run for Congress Against Rep. Packard

A Democrat and slow-growth advocate from San Diego County said Wednesday that he will oppose the popular Rep. Ron Packard (R-Carlsbad) in the heavily Republican 43rd Congressional District, which straddles Orange and San Diego counties.

Howard Greenebaum, 58, of Leucadia in San Diego County said he plans to attack Packard on the issue of growth management in the booming area he has represented for three terms. Packard has said he does not want to discuss growth control because it is a local rather than federal issue.

Greenebaum is chairman of the North County Slow Growth Alliance and said he supports the slow-growth initiative that has been qualified for the ballot by Orange County voters.

A resident of Maryland until two years ago, Greenebaum twice ran unsuccessfully for Congress there. He is retired from managing a jewelry business.

Packard made history when first elected in 1982 by winning as a write-in candidate against the GOP nominee, Johnnie Crean. Crean, the top primary election vote-getter among 18 candidates in the newly created district, was disavowed by the Republican Party after a brutal campaign in which he spent $500,000 of his own money.

Since then, Packard has been reelected twice by margins of more than 70%.